Abstract
An 83-year-old man with a long history of hypertension and aortic atherosclerosis was admitted with ileus syndrome. Abdominal CT scan demonstrated small bowel obstruction due to local wall thickening in the ileum. The patient improved after the insertion of a long intestinal tube but after the tube was pulled out the symptoms recurred. To treat the bowel stricture, a partial resection of the ileum 30 cm proximal from the ileum end was performed. The resected bowel showed two ulcer lesions with marked thickening of the intestinal wall. On histology, the ulcer lesions showed complete sloughing of epithelium with diffuse inflammatory cell infiltration localized in the mucosal layer, which was compatible with ischemic enteritis ; some subserosal branches of the mesenteric artery located beneath the ulcer lesions were completely obstructed by organized thrombi. This patient may have ischemic enteritis caused by thromboembolism originating from aortic atherosclerosis.
